With the spread of the network technology including the Internet and local area networks, a device management system has been proposed where a management server connecting with a network manages multiple devices, such as printers, connecting with the network (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Gazette No. 2004-185351 and No. 2002-189638). In the prior art device management system, each device connecting with the network utilizes, for example, a network board built in the device to obtain monitor information with regard to the device, for example, an operating status of the device, and individually sends the obtained monitor information to the management server. When the device is a printer, the monitor information is, for example, the total number of prints, the total consumption of ink or toner, the remaining amount of ink or toner, or error information.
In the device management system, there may be a firewall between the management server and each device. In this case, the management server may not be allowed to request each device for transmission of monitor information and collect the monitor information from each device. In another possible arrangement, each device may send the monitor information to the management server without a request from the management server. With an increase in number of devices as the management target of the management server, a large number of devices may simultaneously make access to the management server and send the monitor information to the management server. Such simultaneous access and transmission may interfere with smooth processing and management of monitor information by the management server. This problem is commonly found in various device management systems including a management server for managing not only printers but other diverse devices connecting with a network.
The use of a high-performance management server in the device management system reduces the potential of the above problems but undesirably increases the cost. Another possible measure against the above problems without using the high-performance management server causes one device to simultaneously collect monitor information from the other devices and send the collected monitor information to the management server. This reduces the access frequency from the respective devices to the management server. The simultaneous collection of the monitor information from the other devices to one device, however, abruptly increases the network traffic. This may interfere with smooth communication in the network.
By taking into account such problems of the prior art, in a device management system where each of multiple devices sends monitor information to a management server, there is a need of reducing the access frequency from the respective devices to the management server. There is also a need of restraining an abrupt increase in network traffic by transmission of monitor information.